Chaos and Order
by Terminally Restricted
Summary: The Joker expresses his memories of the events leading up to meeting, and falling for Dr. Johnathan Crane.
1. Plans in Motion

**Chapter One **

_**Plans in Motion**_

Those words were still there, those fucked up words I wrote on the walls. I remember them clearly, making the cold concrete warehouse seem all too familiar. East Gotham, cold as hell, and there I was, still there since new years, and the end of March had creeped its ugly head in, and no progress, nothing. I think those words were starting to mock me.

I couldn't stand it anymore, I couldn't bear to be in my own company. Sitting there mocking myself, while the half assed blue prints on the desk stared back like a piece of unfinished art. "This is why I'm not making any progress! I can't think in here!" I sat there baffled at my ability to drive myself mad. "As If I had been in a state of sanity before all of this started." I scoffed at my own words. "Sanity is overated."

The plans had been in the making for a long time. The longer I looked at them the angrier I became. Why bother with plans at all? I never worried with them before. "Because this time will to be different!" I flung the papers off the desk in anger as I yelled, trying to catch my breath. "This time, will make all the difference."

The words echoed in my head as I stood there looking at the now bare desk. I could feel the laughter building inside me. I couldn't contain myself, it belted out of me in loud, painful bursts. "This time will be different! Hahahahahahahaha!" I fell to my knees in joy and agony. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and it was then that I realized what I was doing. "No, I need to concentrate, work now, play later." I was talking to myself again, but that was okay, I enjoyed it. So it was back to my desk again to finish what I had started. I was too deep in by this point to pull back, and so I worked in silence for several more hours, before my tired eyes finally got the best of me.

When I awoke It was raining again, and the sound of raindrops pouring down on the roof of the old concrete warehouse caught my attention lifting me from my state of sleep. The ruffled papers beneath me showed some resemblance to the blue prints I had been working on the night before. With tired eyes I shifted them aside and raised my head. Long locks of green fell against my shoulders as I stretched my neck, allowing it to crack. "Well these will be of little use now, wont they?" I said to myself as I picked up the drool stained blueprints and tossed them to the opposite side of the room. "God forbid I actually get any damn work done." I was angry, no matter what I did I couldn't concentrate. I ended up drifting off, or moving to other tasks, occasionally looking down to find I had invaded my blue prints with doodles of the bat. He knew how to get to me, even in my seclusion.

The hands on the clock above me seemed to be moving too fast. Perhaps my mind was playing tricks on me, it liked to do that. Once again I found myself losing concentration. Focusing my time on how well the clock did its job, instead of doing mine. There was little time left before I had to put my plans into full swing. I had little more then a week before these plans had to be sturdy enough to put into action. Ten days exactly, ten days until construction was to begin at Blackgate prison in West Gotham. Ten days until two truck loads of my men from Blackgate were being transferred to Arkham while their sector of the prison went under construction. "Why had I not started all of this sooner."

Minutes turned to hours, and hours turned into days. Forcing myself to concentrate was really taking its toll on me. Even through the black makeup surrounding my eyes, I was certain, the bags were visible. That night was the first time in a long time I found myself making use of the bed in the other room. The weeks of sleeping on my desk were finally catching up to me. It wasn't the pain that I didn't like, it was the cramps in my muscles making them burn as I felt them growing weaker, having put them to little use in the past few months. Now that the blueprints were done, it seemed to me that regaining my strength would be the next crucial part of preparing myself for what was to come.

"You know Croc, if you are going to stay here while I'm gone I suggest you put yourself to good use, This isn't a poor house," I snarled looking at Waylon sitting on the couch, eating leftovers from the fridge. God knows how long they had been in there. "The dogs will need to be fed, my suits will need to be pressed, and if you're going to stay here and lounge on my couch, and eat my food, and watch my television during the entirety of my absence I will expect to come back to much better conditions then I left." My voice trailed off as I watched him. "Are you listening to me Waylon?" I snapped. He simply swallowed another slice of cold pizza and nodded his head. "You damn well better be, I'm not a charity."


	2. Ready, Set, Go

**Chapter Two**

_**Ready, Set, Go**_

Finally the day I had been waiting for came. It seemed like during my absence Gotham had found its way back into the swing of things. Perhaps they thought me dead, I'm not sure I like that. Things would be changing soon enough, of that much I was sure. My men from Blackgate were no doubt being boarded into trucks at that very moment, unknowingly tipping the domino at the top of the line. It was time to get a jump start on phase two.

_"Wait, so how did you know that Blackgate was going to be put under construction, and your men moved to Arkham?" _A dark figure sitting across from a man in an orange Arkham jumpsuit leans forward. They sit together in a small room, walls lined with men wearing guard uniforms. A bright light shines down on the man in the jumpsuit as he stares at the dark figure sitting in the chair before him.

_"Well if you would just listen to the story perhaps you would find out." _The man in orange snaps back, the grimace on his face slowly turning back into smile. _"Think you can do that batsy?" _He asks with a smirk.

_"Just say what you have to say Joker, I don't have all night." _The figure sighs as he checked the time.

_"Of course you do bats," _The man in orange says with a grin. _"Now quiet, I'm not finished."_

It was time to get a jump start on Phase two. I had been sitting silently in the parking garage outside of the Gotham Memorial Hospital for several hours at this point, watching the road, waiting to see the trucks hauling my men go by. I was starting to get worried, until I heard word from Waylon that the trucks had made their way to Arkham safely. I suppose I must have dosed off at some point, missing their arrival. At any rate I was satisfied that they had made it there without any problems, and that was enough to motivate me to continue.

I straightened up in my seat and and opened the car door, taking in some air. Gotham wouldn't think me dead much longer. My makeup had melted in heat and had began to run down my face leaving streaks of black trailing from my eyes. For some reason that didn't bother me as much as the wrinkles that had formed in my pants, from the hours of sitting I had been doing in such a dreadfully hot environment. Regardless I made my way through the parking garage in record time. Surely someone must have seen me coming, for it was only a matter of minutes before the sound of sirens was filling the surrounding city blocks.

"Now that was quick." I said looking around trying to find the direction the noise was coming from. I continued walking at a fast but steady pace until I made my way to the front of the hospital. It was obvious everyone there was none to thrilled to see me. Maybe it was the way they got up and ran past me in a moment of fear, or the way mothers covered the eyes of their children as they swooped them up into their arms and ran through the door. It did my heart good to see I hadn't lost my touch. For a short time there, I had been worried.

"Now then, I understand you are all scared," I raised my knife into the air slowly, smiling with a shaky hand. "Rightfully so too." I laughed loudly as I threw it across the room, watching it speed forward only stopping once it found itself embedded in the eye socket of the receptionist behind the desk. "Oops, my hand slipped." I said as I smirked, watching her fall from her chair, and out of view behind the desk. "I'll be more careful next time."

I was starting to wonder what was taking the cops so long. Had Gordon stopped for a burger on the way over? Just as I was beginning to wonder what was causing the hold up, I heard a familiar voice outside. "Joker we know you're in there, come out with your hands up, or we will be forced to take extreme measures."

"Ah, there he was, not so late after all. A smile appeared on my face as I looked around curiously, waiting for someone to make the first move. "Oh, he must of been talking to me then." I said with a smirk as I raised my hands calmly and took a step outside. "Ah you caught me Gordon, well done." I said slowly, raising my hands higher. The look in his eye told me he was confused, that was exactly what I wanted.

_"So I was right to think that you wanted to be caught?" _The dark figure on the other side of the table slams his fist down, making the room shake.

_"Well of course you were Batsy Boo, I never said you weren't." _The man in orange smiles, as the figure stands and begins to breath out, now pacing the room. _"Oh ho, someone looks anxious," _Sweeping his cuffed hands through his hair, the man in orange stretches his back.

_"Shut up and finish your story, It's getting late." _The figure growls.

_"You might as well sit back down," _The man in orange says quietly. _"The story has only just begun."_


End file.
